Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine June Issue 2018 | Page 45

BANGLADESH CANVAS
Gas price hike proposal irks textile millers
A proposed hike in gas price by
the Government has drawn serious
criticism from the textile millers
in the country. Once implemented,
the mill owners will have to pay
BDT 16 for every cubic metre of gas
from current BDT 9.62, marking a
significant surge.
It is important to mention here that
the production of a kilogram of yarn
needs around BDT 8-9 worth of gas.
The steep hike in price will make
Bangladesh uncompetitive in the
global market due to the (already)
rising production costs. Post-
implementation of new gas price,
production cost for a kg of yarn will
also increase to BDT 22.
“The textile manufacturers will face
difficulty while dealing with their
buyers as they will not be ready for
the retrospective price rise,” said
Shahid Alam, Vice Chairman of
Jalal Ahmed Spinning Mills Ltd.
Alam was speaking at a meeting,
on the existing gas and energy
situation in the country’s
textile sector, organised by
the Bangladesh Textile Mills
Association (BTMA) at its Dhaka
office.
Notably, Bangladesh is the third-
largest apparel manufacturing
destination, next to China and
Vietnam, with over 6 per cent of
global market share.
The apparel industry in the
country, currently pegged at US
$ 30 billion, is planning to be US
$ 50 billion by 2021. However, the
frequent surge in power tariff will
make it tough for the industry to
achieve its export target.
If implemented, it would be the
fourth such hike since September
2015 when per cubic metre of gas
was available at BDT 4.18.
In another development, a new
salary structure is also underway.
Currently, Bangladesh’s minimum
wage is the lowest in the world,
standing at approximately US $ 65.
Hike in wages and gas price will
collectively hit the industry players
hard.
Transparency International demands ‘good'
governance in RMG sector
Bangladesh needs a long-term
single authority to monitor the
readymade garments industry in
order to ensure good governance
in the US $ 30 billion garment
manufacturing sector, affirmed
Transparency International
Bangladesh (TIB) – a branch
of Berlin-based Transparency
International, a civil society
organisation committed to
fighting against corruption.
Voicing that the sector
lacks good governance on
the broad scale, the local
chapter of the international
anti-graft watchdog placed forth
an eight-point recommendation
based on a research it published,
titled ‘Good Governance in
the RMG Sector: Advances and
Challenges’.
Among those present at the
report launch at TIB’s office
in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, were
its Chairperson Sultana
Kamal, Executive Director,
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Research
and Policy Division Director
Mohammad Rafiqul Hasan, and
Senior Programme Manager Md
Wahid Alam. The research was
presented by Nazmul Huda Mina,
Assistant Programme Manager.
The research, conducted between
May 2017 and March 2018,
followed up on the progress of
establishing good governance
since the Rana Plaza tragedy in
2013 and said significant steps
have been taken to establish
control since then. The findings
are not equally applicable to all
stakeholders within the garments
sector, it underlined. The first
recommendation TIB placed
was for a centralised long-term
single authority to coordinate
and supervise the sector. Among
other points were amending the
loopholes in the Labour Act, 2006,
the formation of a speedy trial
tribunal to dispose the cases
filed over different workplace
accidents, and ensuring workers’
general rights including overtime
pay, leave problems, etc.
The report adds that there has
been a marked improvement in
factory safety, supervision, wage
issues, the capacity of Government
institutions, and other important
fields in the last five years
following a coordinated effort on
the wakeup call post Rana Plaza
disaster. However, there are still
many pending issue that need to
be effectively addressed
“Although there is significant
progress, there are still many
challenges. The workers are still
deprived of the real benefits of the
achieved progress. Although the
law has given the right to form
trade unions, there is considerable
suspicion about how much these
unions can protect the workers’
rights,” said Dr Iftekharuzzaman
at the press briefing.
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